When you think of Human Resources and Marketing, it is common to think that they are two distinct, unrelated departments within a company; one focused on external matters, one focused on internal matters. But Marketing and human resources aren’t as separate as you might think. More and more these two departments are working together.
When marketing and HR work together both departments benefit from the collaboration.
A company needs to attract profitable customers to achieve target sales numbers, but getting top talent interested in your company is also critical, especially for long-term success. Put simply, HR finds the best people to promote and build the brand, while marketing creates and delivers the brand message to employees and customers. This process works so well that 67% of Best-In-Class companies clearly integrate their HR and marketing processes.
The key skills needed when combining HR and Marketing will deliver the customer experience that is repeated by a motivated team.
While some companies have already blurred the lines between HR and Marketing, others have gone a step further and combined the two departments under the direction of one individual. But to start, companies can begin to merge HR and Marketing on key projects such as recruitment, as well as identifying shared goals related to brand awareness and engagement to see how they can add value to each other.
Deliver What You Promise
If you are promising something to a customer in the form of your brand values and key messages, including your Unique Selling Points or Unique Value Proposition, this must trickle right back to the employees who are delivering your service or / and products. As you can see, Marketing and HR then become intertwined and inseparable. For example, if one of your brand values that you communicate to your customers is ‘Friendly Customer Service’ and you promise ‘Quick Delivery’, your employees must be able to deliver what is promised and expected.
Embrace Change for The Better
In order to fulfil your customer promises and effectively build a reputable brand, your team may need additional training and, undoubtedly, the correct HR and daily operation processes in place that they are incentivised to follow.
If you currently have a Marketing team that don’t communicate with the HR side of your Business, why not start by holding weekly or monthly meetings where both your Marketers and your HR manager(s) are included. Encourage open communication between the two departments and ensure that both teams are aware of and aligned to each others goals and even their longer term plans.
Your Brand is Not Just for Your Customers
We hope that you are now aware that your brand is not just for your consumers, but that all of your employees need to ‘live the brand’ whereby they become walking brand ambassadors for your company. Businesses are seeing great results with this type of collaboration. Marketing and HR share similar objectives targeted toward different audiences. Marketing is accountable for the branding of the company and communicating your key messages to consumers. HR is responsible for employment branding which ensures that your company is perceived positively by internal employees and external candidates.
>> Do you need help aligning your team and striving towards your Business Marketing goals? We can help! With a wealth of successful experience, we know how to combine your Marketing and HR in a results-driven way.
